


Hands Show & Love Tells

by realMurph



Series: MFSWeek 2020 [4]
Category: Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Hopeful Ending, F/F, mfsweek 2020, small mention of unintentional self-harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:47:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24913342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realMurph/pseuds/realMurph
Summary: MFSWeek Day 4: cannon-divergence“'I chose you!'The line rang clear across the room, stopping Raelle in her tracks from the sheer desperation in it. She paused, head turned ever so slightly back towards the girl in the chair behind her. Waiting."What if Raelle had stayed?
Relationships: Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn
Series: MFSWeek 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800214
Comments: 18
Kudos: 142





	Hands Show & Love Tells

**Author's Note:**

> Hoooo boy, buckle up for this one kids. This is the Sad my friends yelled at me for (rip Ef sorry not sorry). :D I mean, there's a nice, hopeful ending but the ride there- oof. :P (also please read the tags, there is a small content warning)
> 
> But anyway! Here we are again, Day 4, the [mfsweek](https://mfsweek.tumblr.com/) challenge is halfway done! Where does the time go. Again, if you haven't yet, go check out the page, there are a lot of creators who have provided some amazing content and you should go support them!
> 
> As always, major thanks to my beta [suchbeautifuldoubt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/suchbeautifuldoubt), read her stuff, find her on Tumblr at [tallycravens](https://tallycravens.tumblr.com/), she's amazing.

“I chose you!”

The line rang clear across the room, stopping Raelle in her tracks from the sheer desperation in it. She paused, head turned ever so slightly back towards the girl in the chair behind her. Waiting. But not turning.

Scylla drew in a breath, trying not to let her tears free. Sobs pressed against the inside of her chest until it hurt, threatening to burst. She knew she had one last chance to make her plea, one chance to stop the girl she loved from walking away forever, and she would not break down before she did it.

“I chose you,” she took another breath to steady her voice before going on in a rush, “instead of them. I chose you!” She nearly shouted the last words, desperate beyond measure to get her sincerity across. Her cry echoed off the stone walls, fading until all that was left was silence. Scylla’s breath caught in her chest, unable to move as she awaited the verdict. Her vision blurred as she valiantly tried to keep her tears at bay, just a moment longer. Her chest burned with a need to breathe but she couldn’t bring herself to let go of possibly the last breath of air she ever took before her heart was shattered.

For a long, agonizing moment, all was still. A moment frozen in time. Waiting.

And then Raelle turned towards the door.

Took a step.

Scylla felt her heart begin to crack and break, pieces of it falling into nothing. Tears ran down her face and her breath began shuddering its way through her lungs, forcing its way out in the start of a wail that would end her. She began to fall forward-- oblivious to the chains holding her to the chair, to reality-- slipping through the floor to the shadows beneath Fort Salem. The sound was in her throat now, silencer or no, and about to bust forth when-

The chair in front of her moved. Returned to its usual position, watching her. A body sank into it, slow, hesitant. Defensive.

Raelle.

Scylla wrenched her head up, eyes bloodshot, tear-streaks down her cheeks, hair plastered to her burning face, and stared, disbelieving, as Raelle sat before her, hunched and arms holding herself together, regarding her. The sobs slowly subsided in Scylla’s chest, allowing her to breathe and right herself, barely noticing as the shackles pulled and cut into her wrists. There was no pain save the one in her chest. She stared, wide-eyed and confused, at Raelle, hardly daring to believe she was there. And against every bit of common sense and self-preservation Scylla had, the tiniest bit of hope flickered to life, deep in her heart.

“I’m listening.”

At those words, Scylla’s mind began to race. She opened her mouth several times but no words came out. She couldn’t even begin to say  _ anything _ she wanted to tell Raelle, and there were so many things: I’m sorry, forgive me, I love you, I chose you, I  _ choose _ you, it was  _ real _ , I love you, I love you,  _ I love you… _

So many thoughts tumbled through her head and she couldn’t latch on to a single one. She hung her head and frustratedly slammed her hand against the side of her chair.

She didn’t see Raelle lurch forward, hand outstretched, to stop her from hurting herself.

But then she became aware of the pain in her wrist. She looked down and saw that she had been pulling so hard the cuff had cut into her, and a thin, slow trickle of blood now slid down her fingers to drip against the stone floor. She held her hand up, staring at it, trying to pull her thoughts together. Eventually she looked up at Raelle.

And held her hand out, as far as she could.

Pleading.

“Please.” Let me show you.

Raelle hesitated and another moment froze in time. Scylla’s hand hung in the air, blood dripping steadily to the floor that threatened to consume her once again. She watched Raelle, eyes wide, hoping, breath caught once more. And then-

Warmth.

Two hands enveloped hers,  _ so _ gently. Raelle’s eyes were still guarded but her hands were kind. So kind that Scylla closed her eyes and wept anew. It had been so  _ long _ since she had been touched so softly, with such care, that it nearly burned her. But she welcomed the near-pain; would welcome it a thousand times over, gladly, if Raelle never let go. Because Scylla knew the truth:

Raelle tries to hide her heart away, but her love is always felt in her hands, and what she can do with them.

It wasn’t just in the way she did her work. It was in the way she brushed Scylla’s hair behind her ear, and the way she held her so close at night. It was the way she cradled Scylla’s face so gently as she whispered that she was with her. It was in the way she held her hand tighter at the wedding, pulled her waist closer- she didn’t say ‘I love you too’, but her hands did. 

They always did.

And now they said, Show me. Scylla closed her eyes; she could feel Raelle’s breath on her fingertips, could barely hear her start the words.  _ Ask and it shall be given you… _ She took a deep breath, opened her mind and-

Let go.

  
  
  
  


The moment Scylla’s memories began to flood her mind, Raelle knew she wouldn’t be able to hold herself back. The raw emotion of it, the brutal force of all her thoughts and feelings all at once… and the  _ despair _ . The deep, unrelenting sadness of the girl she knew she was still in love with, so despondent, nearly given up on everything, desperately clinging to this one  _ shred _ of hope Raelle had given her. This tiny flicker of hope that, as Raelle let herself fall deeper into her mind, began to grow.

There was nothing that Scylla did not let her see, and so Raelle saw everything.

Felt everything.

All the fear and pain and hurt was laid bare. All the joy and excitement and hope. 

All the guilt. 

All the love.

As this wave of emotion and memory crashed over Raelle, her resolve crumbled and with it, the wall keeping herself in. Her mother’s words rang in her ears- “It’s not a one-way street, Raelle.” So as Scylla crashed into her, bits of Raelle began to seep through.

The pain, the betrayal, the loneliness, and the  _ longing _ for someone to trust, to depend on. She let Scylla have that part of her, as she took everything Scylla gave her and more. She had missed this, missed the connection, and for a brief moment, she felt a deep relief to let someone in and be safe with them. Despite all the confusion she felt as she tried to sort through Scylla’s thoughts and memories, she felt safe here. And the longer she lingered, the safer she felt. There were no lies left in Scylla’s mind. It called out to her, You are safe here, and Raelle believed it.

Time had passed.

Enough that the cut on Scylla’s wrist had long since healed. Slowly, almost reluctantly, each girl withdrew into her own mind. But each could feel that a part of them was now forever in the other. The world resettled around them. Raelle was on her knees, head buried in Scylla’s lap, still clasping her hand tightly. Scylla was bent over her, shielding her from the world and burying her face in Raelle’s neck like it was the last safe place on Earth.

Maybe it was.

They pulled themselves up and looked into each other’s eyes.  _ Stared _ . Like they could still see the other’s thoughts.

Maybe they could.

Raelle laced her fingers with Scylla’s, squeezing gently. There were fresh tears in both girls’ eyes. She brought her left hand up and,  _ so _ tenderly, cupped the side of Scylla’s face, slowly drawing her forward to rest their foreheads together. She did not say, I love you.

But her hands did.

Raelle could feel the weight of the key Anacostia had given her heavy in her pocket. But it could wait another moment frozen in time. There was so much still to do, and so much still to say, and so  _ so _ much still to rebuild. Scylla could not stay here, and Raelle could not leave, but they would try. Try, and hold each other tight, and not let go. They were in this together now. No matter what anyone said, no matter what anyone thought, no matter who either of them used to be, they were in.

For now though, in this moment, there was a bright blaze of hope between them.

And maybe that would be enough.

And maybe, one day, there would be a beach.

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone still here? We good? Great! Knew you guys could do it. Hope the end was worth the ride, lol.
> 
> Hope you liked! Want more? Find me on Tumblr at [lesbitomboyish](https://lesbitomboyish.tumblr.com/). I take requests, prompts, etc, for other ships as well (I'm just very very gay). Or just come to chat, that's cool too.
> 
> More MFSWeek to come, as well as some other projects, so don't miss out!
> 
> [Subscribe to me](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realMurph) or this story so you don't miss updates or new postings!
> 
> be happy, stay excellent <3


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